One Ingredient, Two Ways

Aladdin’s Nan pita breads have recently inspired two easy, fast and delicious dinners at Wildwood.  The flatbreads themselves are awesome drizzled with a little olive oil and then grilled for a minute or so on each side.  They have a hint of sweet and the thick, chewy consistency of naan.  I have been finding them in the deli at Heinen’s, but I think they are available all over the Cleveland area or on their on-line store.   We used the flatbreads to make two very different sandwiches, but they would also be great served with hummus or your favorite dip.

The first dinner came from the 2007 Food and Wine Annual Cookbook.  CC picked up these beautiful strip steaks from Whole Foods, which we decided absolutely could not be wasted in a sandwich.  So even though this recipe is for a steak sandwich, we had an egg salad sandwich, with steak on the side.  And salt and vinegar chips and pickles from Corky and Lenny's to round out the plate.

Steak-and-Egg Salad Sandwiches

4 servings

4 large eggs

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp dry mustard

2 tbsp snipped chives

Dash of worcestershire sauce

Dash of hot sauce

1 celery rib, diced

S&P

Two 1 lb. strip steaks, cut 1 inch thick

4 large pocketless pitas (the nan)

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing on the pita

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 bunch watercress

1.  Put the eggs in a medium saucepan filled with cold water and bring to a rapid boil.  Cover and let stand off the heat for 10 minutes.  Drain and fill the pan with cold water, shaking the eggs against the side of the pan to crack them.  Peel the eggs and coarsely chop them.  In a medium bowl, combine the mayonnaise, paprika, dry mustard, chives, worcestershire and hot sauce.  Add the chopped eggs and celery and season with S&P.  2.  Meanwhile, light a grill.  Brush the strip steaks and the pita breads with olive oil.  Grill the pita breads for 30 seconds per side, until they are just heated through and lightly toasted.  Immediately wrap the pita breads in aluminum foil to keep warm and soft.  Season the steaks with S&P and grill them over moderately high heat for about 10 minutes, turning once, for medium rare.  Transfer the grilled steaks to a cutting board and let them rest for 10 minutes.  Thinly slice the steaks across the grain.  3. In a medium bowl, whisk the lemon juice with the 2 tbsp. of olive oil.  Add the watercress to the bowl, season with S&P and toss to coat.  Spread the egg salad over the pitas.  Arrange the sliced steak on one half of each pita bread and top with the watercress.  Fold the pita breads to close and serve the sandwiches  right away.

CC came up with the second dinner on Sunday morning while we were watching Bobby Flay make a greek salad on Grill It.  This time we just put a greek salad on the pita with a little tzatiki and side of olives - so easy, so GOOD.

Greek Salad

Cherry Tomatoes, sliced

1 english cucumber, peeled and sliced

4 cups mixed greens

4 oz. goat’s milk feta

8 oz. tzatziki

Greek dressing

Serve on the flat breads prepared in the same way as the steak and egg salad recipe.

You can find tzatziki in the store, but it will be even better if you make it.  My sister brought me back some tzatziki seasoning from Greece this summer.  I mixed a teaspoon of that with a teaspoon of olive oil and a teaspoon of cider vinegar and a few spoonfuls of greek yogurt.  I use Fage (pronounced fa-YEH, learned that from the package) which I like to eat for breakfast with fresh berries and honey.

I think you can also find greek dressing in the store, but I made mine with a spice mix I picked up at a greek restaurant in Findlay, Ohio.  I had to spend some time in Findlay for work a few years back and we would eat lunch at a place called the Greek Garden (they don’t have a website, but it is the place on Main St) and always get the greek salad.  We asked if they sold the dressing, which they didn’t, but they did offer us a condiment to-go container of the spice mix for fifty cents.  So we got 2 and were on our way.  Well we finished those two fairly quickly cuz the spice was delicious sprinkled on a Subway salad with just olive and vinegar as dressing.  So the next time we were in Findlay for work a few months later I bought like 10 of those little fifty cent containers.  I was working my way through those, when about a year ago I had a friend that was moving away from Findlay.  And since I didn’t foresee going back to Findlay for work anytime soon, I asked her to buy me the largest quantity they would sell.  So now I have a sherbet tub of the spice in my freezer and I  use it all the time to make dressing.  Let me know if you want some.  I mix that with olive oil, vinegar, and S&P (and sometimes lemon juice but not this time) to make a quick and lovely greek dressing.